By Brian Jules Campued
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. expressed optimism on Thursday in boosting economic and trade relations between the Philippines and the State of Hawaii.
Marcos made the remark during a joint courtesy call at the Malacañan Palace of the members of the Honolulu City Council delegation and 31st Trade Mission led by the Filipino Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii (FCCH) and Hawaii Philippines Business Economic Council (HPBEC).
“The trading missions that you have been conducting and the possibilities that you have to explore in terms of strengthening the economic ties and trade ties between Hawaii specifically and the Philippines, I think there’s a great deal of potential there,” President Marcos said.
Global trade has changed following the COVID-19 pandemic, the President added, that is why more “grand opportunities” await for the country to engage and expand its trade ties abroad.
“It behooves us to do our best, to try and explore those, to make those potentialities into reality. And there are many, many areas [where] we can do that,” he continued.
For his part, the Chief Executive stated that his administration implemented the Ease of Doing Business Act to invite more investors in the Philippines.
“For our part, in the Philippines, what we have been trying to do is to make the investments or the exchanges easier so that it is more transparent, more accountable, and in terms of cost as well,” he added.
The President also noted that the government has tried to “remedy” and “alleviate” the supply chain problems experienced worldwide.
“And I think that we have succeeded to an extent. We will continue to work in that direction because again trade is important to us,” said Marcos. – avds
